Malawi Olympic Committee (MOC) president Jappie Mhango has appealed to sports associations to up their game, saying Malawians are tired of failure in international competitions. He said this during the body’s annual general meeting (AGM) at Sunbird Mount Soche in Blantyre on Saturday. Mhango admitted that Malawian athletes’ performance in international tournaments is worrying. The MOC chief said the situation should give associations food for thought. He attributed the struggles to, among others, inadequate infrastructure, lack of investment by government and poor capacity of coaches and umpires. His concerns come in the wake of the country’s continued failure to qualify for Olympics Amid a profound silence, Mhango, who is also legislator for Rumphi North, said: “While we have made significant strides in administration, we are still lagging behind in podium performance and yet it is one of the key aspects of our strategic plan. “There is a notable lack of infrastructure, we are also not investing much in sports as we should and technically, we are still struggling and if you cannot properly drill your athletes, you cannot compete. “What is worrisome is that while we are providing courses, at association level, we are not doing much. Most of our coaches are still on level one and yet in our neighbouring countries, they have made huge strides.” He said there is need to reflect “and up our game and address these challenges, otherwise Malawians are tired of these failures and it is time to put smiles on their faces”. Added Mhango: “The situation is that we have qualified administrators, but not coaches; thence, the need to train our coaches to advanced levels.” He also expressed the need for associations to improve on governance by, among others, having properly crafted roadmaps. Said Mhango: “We must have long-term plans for coaches and athletes’ development, we also need to have constitutions that will guide our operations and, of course AGMs. “We need to identify a pool of athletes that can compete in major competitions and not have the same faces year in, year out. “For instance, in athletics, Asimenye Simwaka dominates all the time because she does not have competition. So, there is need to produce more of them.” Volleyball Association of Malawi president James Kaunda said the MOC president touched on critical issues. He said: “For Malawi to perform, we need to work extra hard as associations. If you have coaches that have limited knowledge, it becomes a challenge for them to impart knowledge in athletes. “So, there is need for our coaches to attain higher badges, likewise us as associations, we need to improve technically and administratively.” The meeting also reviewed activities of the previous year as well as presentation of reports from the president, secretary general and treasurer. Some of the associations that attended the meeting were judo, basketball, netball, hockey, bowling, athletics, table tennis, archery, canoeing and taekwendo.